The iBall Windows Slide is a good media consumption device but is not so good in being a tablet. And the blame for that should go to Microsoft as they still haven't come with a plan on how to scale apps and every time you change to desktop mode everything on the screen makes you squint.
In the same price range the Android powered Nexus 7 or the Apple iPad mini can do a better job of getting the entertainment part front and center and both can handle occasional productivity tasks.
Build & Design
The iBall Slide WQ32 is a chunky 8 inch plastic tablet and the tablet looks pretty generic. The plastic material used on this tablet gives it a very Samsung like feel. The build quality of the product seems quite sturdy for the most part but not without an occasional creak under stress.
I have said it earlier and will say it again that the tablets in this price range (10k to 18k) don't bring anything new to the table on the design front. There are some exceptions like the Apple iPad Mini or the Nexus 7 tablet and they do stand out from the competition.
Coming back to the iBall Slide WQ32, it is well sized with a little extra weight at 354 grams. The tablet feels light initially but will certainly strain your wrist after a while if you use it long with one hand.
Hardware
This 8 inch tablet from iBall runs on the latest Intel Atom Z3735D processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. The 16GB on-board storage is too less to install any apps as Windows itself takes almost 10 GBs of it. Even though the tablet comes with a microSD card slot and can take upto 64GB of external storage, you won’t be able to install apps on it.
On the connectivity front, the tablet has Wi-Fi as well as 3G data connectivity which makes it the lowest priced Windows tablet available in the market with 3G support. The tablet also features a set of stereo speakers at the bottom back which are loud enough and get the job done.
Other than the basic hardware you also get a 5MP camera at the back which is only good for shooting photos in daylight. The 2MP camera at the front is okay and works just fine for a video chat on Skype. The 8 inch screen has a resolution of 1200 x 800 pixels which is sharp enough when you use the tablet for reading and watching videos at night. The screen is very reflective if you want to work in daylight and almost illegible under direct sunlight.
Windows on a tablet
As for the software, the tablet comes with unhindered Windows 8.1 with Bing which has its own pros and cons when it comes to using it on an 8 inch display. When playing games, or reading a book in an app in portrait mode , the UI looks good and crisp but when you switch to desktop mode, you will end up straining your eyes. The Windows desktop mode just doesn't work for a tablet this size.
Performance on the device is a breeze and the tablet can easily manage multiple apps running in the background. We ran games like Asphalt 8 Airborne which worked just fine with occasional frame drop. The tablet was able to survive only for about four hours of full HD video playback, leaving a lot of room for improvement.
Windows is an ideal OS for media consumption device like HD videos, e-books or YouTube videos. But in desktop mode everything else on the tablet seems small and not scaled properly. iBall has included Microsoft Office 365 with a 1 year subscription but typing a document on a tablet this small is niether fun nor efficient.
Wrap-up
The iBall Windows Slide WQ32 does try to make a case for itself as a media consumption device with its low price (being a Windows tablet) and latest Intel hardware. The tablet stands boldly against the Wi-Fi only counterparts from Apple and Google in the price range, if you are looking for a media consuming device ONLY. However, Windows has its drawbacks with the lack of touch optimized app support and scalability which pulls the tablet down in terms of recommendability.
For a tablet in this price range, we would recommend you look away from Windows and instead consider the Nexus 7 or the Apple iPad Mini.
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Hardik Singh
Light at the top, this odd looking creature lives under the heavy medication of video games. View Full Profile
